In a vintage performance, Ben Askren pitched a shutout against Douglas Lima and retained his welterweight belt.

Additionally, Marlon Sandro advanced to the finals of Bellator’s season-six featherweight tournament with a split decision over Alexandre Bezerra, and featherweights Travis Marx and Hiroshi Nakamura headed to the semifinals of the bantamweight competition.

The action took place Friday at Bellator 64, which took place at The Colosseum at Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Preliminary-card fights streamed on Spike.com in advance of the main card on MTV2.

Welterweight challenger Douglas Lima became the latest striker neutered by the grappling of Askren, who continues to relish his role of unpopular grinder.

“I was told you Canadians like fighting,” the champ said afterward. “If you don’t like the ground work, there’s a sport they call boxing. It’s not as fun, though. I suggest you keep coming here and watching my ass whippings.”

And while that’s not exactly what it was, Lima certainly looked whipped as the fight went into deep waters. Unable to take the champ’s head off with a knee or uppercut, the challenger allowed himself to be stuffed against the cage.

As soon as Askren got his arms around Lima’s waist, it was over. Controlling from the top position, Askren peppered Lima with hammerfists and punches, never hurting the challenger but never letting him relax.

Lima tried to counter with all manner of sweeps and submission attempts. He had no luck finishing them.

By the third round, the fight was virtually decided. On a few occasions, Lima managed to take the approaching Askren off his feet with a kick, which delighted the audience. But eventually, he went south, and Askren (10-0 MMA, 7-0 BFC) resumed his work.

The highly decorated wrestler and welterweight champ remains unbeaten in 10 professional fights and has outpointed all but one of his Bellator opponents.

Lima (21-5 MMA, 3-1 BFC), who knocked out Ben Saunders to earn his title shot, sees a nine-fight streak broken.

Sandro squeaks by Bezerra

For a second time, Marlon Sandro advanced to the finals of a Bellator tournament. But the audience didn’t exactly celebrate that fact.

After three rounds of measured action that resembled a heated sparring session, Sandro defeated Alexandre Bezerra by split decision. Two judges gave him the fight by scores of 29-28 while the third dissented for Bezerra.

The crowd at The Colosseum booed the decision and the fighter Sandro as he gave his post-fight interview.

“People, peace! I’m sorry,” the Brazilian shouted. “Hey, this guy is a tough guy. I’m sorry. I come in here to put on a good show for everybody.”

Moments later, cameras caught Bezerra curled up in a corner, heartbroken over the loss.

Sandro began the fight on a conservative note, firing jabs and straight rights as Bezerra attempted to counter with a left hook. That exchange dominated the round but for Sandro breaking the rhythm with powerful outside leg kicks.

Bezerra was outpaced by the attacks to his legs. Yet on several occasions, he managed to hurt Sandro with punches. Wild flying knees and takedowns were met counters that connected.

Ironically, it was Sandro that had more success with the left hook. When the two engaged beyond a simple three punch exchange, he connected with the strike. Although he never managed to hurt Bezerra, he scored points.

A frenzied takedown from the first-time Bellator tournament fighter opened the third frame. Sandro, though, quickly reversed and continued to work leg kicks. When the two traded, he landed several left hands. Then Bezerra managed to drop him with a right hand in the most significant strike of the fight, and another big punch ended the action on a good note for Bezerra.

In the end, however, judges felt the kicks and left hands of Sandro (22-3 MMA, 5-1 BFC) were worth more. The Brazilian, who was knocked out by Pat Curran in the finals of Bellator’s Summer Series featherweight tournament, now boasts three consecutive wins after the setback.

Bezerra (13-2 MMA, 5-1 BFC) suffers his first defeat in eight outings following a win over Kenny Foster in the quarterfinals.
Marx upsets Ueda

Travis Marx didn’t much behave like an underdog when he outpointed Japanese import Masakatsu Ueda in the second opening-round bout. The scores were unanimous for the Greg Jackson disciple by scores of 29-28.

“The opportunity to fight a guy like Masakatsu is enormous for me, but I never perceived myself as the underdog from day one, and I came out here wanting to win it,” Marx said after the scores were read. “And that’s what I did.”

Marx was the busier fighter from the opening round, employing a lunging right hand and high kick to push his Japanese opponent back. When Ueda attempted to retort, he ducked under and executed a big slam. But he immediately found himself defending a kimura, which Ueda passionately cranked. Adjusting position, he managed to escape and racked up points with punches from Ueda’s back.

The second round saw Ueda get top position and control. Marx was able to reverse and hint at a reverse triangle, but the Japanese fighter squirmed free and stand. The two were largely even on the feet, trading hard body kicks.

It was Marx who was just a little bit busier opening the third round, again pursuing with kicks. Ueda responded by changing levels and wresting him to the mat. The two battled for position, but the Ueda was the superior grappler.

Still, it was Marx’s early-fight performance likely notched him the win. Marx (19-3 MMA, 1-0 BFC) now enjoys four consecutive wins on his recent resume and advances to the semifinals of the bantamweight tournament.

Ueda (15-2 MMA, 0-1 BFC), meanwhile, sees a five-win streak snapped.

Nakamura plods to decision over Lima

The opening-round of the bantamweight tournament got off to an uninspiring start as Hiroshi Nakamura outpointed Rodrigo Lima.

While Nakamura spent most of the bout in dominant position, he was far less active in attempting to finish the fight than his opponent, who constantly threatened with submissions and strikes from his back.

Still, judges awarded Nakamura unanimous scores of 29-27, which reflected a second-round point deduction to Lima for a knee to the groin.

“Well, this is my first time in North America, so I’m kind of feeling a little uncomfortable,” Nakamura admitted afterward. “But now I got over that, and I’m feeling very good about going to the second round.

Nakamura did not appear to be comfortable during the fight. Every time Lima advanced with strikes, he ensnared the Brazilian in the clinch and took the fight to the mat. He threw punches here and there from up top, but spent more time defending Lima’s triangle, armbar and oma plata attempts.

A series of plodding positional battles ensued. The crowd was roused only briefly in the second when the two simultaneously exchanged hammerfists, Lima on his back and Nakamura overhead.

Lima was close to cinching a kneebar in the third, but Nakamura simply adjusted his leg, and the two wrestled for opposing footlocks.

Nakamura (15-5 MMA, 1-0 BFC), who now has notched 13 of his 15 wins via decision, enjoys a three-fight win streak while Lima (10-1 MMA, 0-1 BFC) suffers the first loss of his professional career.

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